Weapon runes are dropped by Captains and Warchiefs. Talion can upgrade each weapon to hold a maximum of four weapon runes. The effectiveness of normal runes are determined by the level of Captain or Warchief that dropped the particular rune. The following is a list of normal weapon runes and their effect:

Bow

Aura Of Dismay: Talion has a chance of making Uruks flee near a headshot.

Broken Mind: Talion has a chance to recover 4 Elf-shots from a Drain or Brand.

Holwing Storm: All weapon damage increased while riding a mount.

Keen Eyed: Bow stealth kills grants Talion Focus.

River Of Arrows: Talion has a chance of recovering Elf-Shot by bow kills.

Sylvan Arrow: Headshot kills has a chance to give Talion +30 Focus.

Unbreakable Bond: Using Pin in Place and Talion may recover Focus.

Dagger

Bare As Bones: Talion has a chance of executing a Critical Hit on the first hit of a Hit Streak.

Breath Of Light: Recovers health with a stealth kill.

Chill Soul: Talion recovers 50 Focus with a head explosion kill.

Choking Horror: Talion has a chance to terrify more than two Uruks with a Brutalize kill.

Favor Of The Lady: Talion recovers HP with Drain or Brand.

Harbinger Of Doom: Talion recovers his HP with Drain and Brand from above.

Rule Through Fear: Talion recovers Focus with each stealth kill.

Sylvan Doom: Brutalize kills lets Talion recover five Elf-Shots.

To The Death: Grab kills allows Talion focus boost.

Worm's Tooth: Head explosion kills gives Talion extra health.

Sword

Betrayer: Hitting an enemy from the back will increase all sword damage.

Epic runes are rarely dropped by high level Uruk Warchiefs and Uruk Captains. The effectiveness of epic runes are static and do not depend on the level of the enemy that dropped them. The following is a list of epic weapon runes and their effect:

Bow

Ascendant: Decreases the Focus depletion rate by 50%.

Bow Master: 50% chance of increased bow damage.

Explosive Demise: Talion has 20% to blast an area with a charged headshot.

Note: This process takes some time to prepare. Collect all 43 different epic runes, and have the "Dispatch" ability. You must have at least 20 Captains alive, which is done easiest in Endless Challenge and Test Of Wisdom. Select a Warchief that you will brand later. Send death threats to all the Captains and Warchiefs. Brand the Warchief that you selected earlier. Brand the 20 or more living Captains. Command all the Captains to become bodyguards of the Warchief that you branded. Summon the branded Warchief. Delete the epic rune to be duplicated, or convert it to Mirian. You should now have 42 epic runes. Kill all the followers. Once dead, every Captain and the Warchief will drop the same epic rune that you are currently missing.

Easy epic runes

To increase the chance of obtaining an epic rune, kill high level Warchiefs and Captains. Allow them to win during Captains' and Warchiefs' Power Struggles. You can allow them to intentionally kill you so that their own rank and level increases. Then, return to them and get a revenge kill. You can also threaten the Captains and Warchiefs to increase their level. However, you will then have to take out their reinforcements.

Weapon attributes

A total of four runes can be added to each weapon (bow, dagger, and sword) for the indicated cost:

Rune 1: 60 Mirian

Rune 2: 80 Mirian

Rune 3: 380 Mirian

Rune 4: 800 Mirian

Ultimate weapon powers

The following weapon powers can be purchased for the indicated amount of Mirian. Once purchased, a charge meter will appear at the bottom of the screen. When filled, you can use the corresponding ultimate attack:

Flame Of Azkar (2,500 Mirian): Begins charging when Talion draws his bow. Once it is ready, it allows Talion to have infinite Elf-Shots, Focus, and Fire Arrows for 15 seconds. The duration of this effect can be increased by using the Wrath Of The Eldar rune.

Shadow Of Acharn (2,500 Mirian): Begins charging when Talion enters Stealth mode. Once it is ready, it allows Talion to become invisible for 20 seconds. He can then perform infinite stealth kills during that time. The duration of this effect can be increased by using the Oathbreaker rune.

Storm Of Urafel (2,500 Mirian): Once it is ready, Talion can continue executing enemies for approximately 20 seconds. The duration of this effect can be increased by using the Ruination weapon rune.

Attribute upgrades

Collect the indicated amount of Mirian to upgrade the corresponding attribute:

Health (each tier adds +20 HP)

Tier 1: 100 Mirian

Tier 2: 320 Mirian

Tier 3: 640 Mirian

Tier 4: 1,050 Mirian

Tier 5: 2,100 Mirian

Elf-Shot (each tier adds +2 shots)

Tier 1: 130 Mirian

Tier 2: 370 Mirian

Tier 3: 870 Mirian

Tier 4: 1,750 Mirian

Tier 5: 2,100 Mirian

Focus (each tier adds +20 Focus)

Tier 1: 100 Mirian

Tier 2: 320 Mirian

Tier 3: 640 Mirian

Tier 4: 1,050 Mirian

Tier 5: 2,100 Mirian

Ability upgrades

Increase the Power stat to the indicated value to unlock and upgrade new abilities:

Ranger

Tier 1 (unlocked by default)

Execution: Talion can kill a single enemy in one strike with a Hit Streak.

Impact: Talion can stun or knock back countered enemies.

Strike From Above: All of the Talion's aerial takedowns on surprised targets are lethal.

Monster Slayer: Kill monsters quickly and is resistant to their attacks.

Regeneration: Continually heals rapidly.

Side Step: Dodge thrown daggers

Skirmisher: Attempt to back away from combat.

Sneaky: Sometimes appears unexpectedly.

Sniffer: Smell out enemies who are hiding nearby.

Summoner: Call nearby allies to join the fight.

Tracker: Sense the presence of nearby enemies and hunt them down.

Vault Breaker: Block attempts to jump over him.

Weaknesses

General

Branded: Nemesis can be grabbed without having to first weaken him with attacks.

Clumsy: Can be grabbed without having to be weakened.

Damaged by Combat Executions: Can be injured for a decent amount with combat executions.

Damaged by Combat Finishers: Can be damaged by combat finishers.

Damaged by Explosions: Can be damaged by explosions, such as detonation of camp fires.

Fear

Fear of Betrayal: Terrified when allied Uruks fight each other.

Fear of Burning: Terrified when set on fire through an explosion or fire arrow.

Fear of Caragors: Terrified when the nemesis sees Caragors out of their cages or in the wild.

Fear of Graugs: Terrified when seeing Graugs.

Fear of Morgai Flies: Terrified when attacked by a swarm of Morgai Flies.

Fear of Rival: Terrified when seeing a rival Nemesis.

Vulnerable

Vulnerable to Combat Finishers: Killed instantly with a Combat Finisher.

Vulnerable to Mounted Beasts: Killed instantly by mounted beasts, such as dominated Caragors or Graugs.

Vulnerable to Ranged Attacks: Killed instantly by ranged attacks, such as a Charged Headshot, Fire Arrow, or Shadow Strike.

Vulnerable to Stealth Finishers: Killed instally by sneak attacks.

Nemesis missions

All Nemeses randomly start different missions. When you start your own mission of their own, you spend time at the map screen, or die. The following types of missions are available for Nemeses:

Ambush: It is similar to a duel, but one Nemesis will fight another with one of them being outnumbered by the ambush set by the other. Normally the ambushing Nemesis will win. You can change the outcome by defending the Uruk who is outnumbered. This can be a useful strategy when trying to dominate someone.

Beast Hunt: Uruks will participate in beast hunts to display their skills to others. If a Nemesis is successful on the hunt, he will gain a power level. If he fails, the Nemesis will either die or develop a fear of the particular beast he was hunting. You can intervene and either kill the beast to level up the Nemesis, or take out the Nemesis while he is distracted by the beast.

Betrayal: A Warchief's bodyguard can betray him and damage or kill him. If an initial assassination attempt is unsuccessful, the betrayer has to fight the Warchief and all his other followers, which usually ends with his death. If you intervene and kill the Warchief, the betrayer becomes the new Warchief and gains a power level. This is useful for drawing out a Warchief with the plan of killing him, especially if one of his bodyguards is already dominated by you.

Duel: One Nemesis will battle another Uruk Nemesis to gain more power. The Nemeses can either fight one-on-one or along with their followers. The winner will gain a power level, whether he kills the opponent or you intervene. The losing Uruk may survive by fleeing the battle.

Execution: A specific Uruk might attempt to execute another Uruk and his followers. The executioner Nemesis will line up the victim with three of his followers and execute them one by one, with the Nemesis victim being the last one. If you kill the executioner while this is happening, the survivor gains a power level; however, if the execution is successful, he gains a power level.

Feast: During the feasts, Uruks are in a dull state and perform poorly in combat. You can take advantage of this to stealth kill a Nemesis. If the feast is uninterrupted, the Nemeses involved will gain power levels.

Killed Talon: If a Nemesis delivers the killing blow to you, he will gain a power level along with other Nemeses who survived encounters against you.

Promotion: After completing a promotion mission, an Uruk Grunt will enter the Nemesis system to become a Captain and acquire a new title and armor. If there are no empty positions in the Captain's roster, the Uruk will try to kill another Captain. Note: Newly added Captains to the Nemesis system are easier to defeat.

Recruit: Enemies in the Nemesis system may attempt to recruit new followers. If successful, they will gain a power level.

Survived After Encounter: If a Nemesis survives an encounter with you, whether they fought or not, they will gain a power level. This can be a useful way to level up someone which you plan on dominating later by leaving that specific Nemesis alive.

Nemesis interactions

You can adjust the Nemesis system in various ways to promote someone you dominated or overthrow a Warchief you do not want to fight. The following is a list of the possible interactions and their outcomes:

Death Threat: After dominating a Nemesis in the system, you can have him deliver a death threat to another Nemesis. This will force the threatened Nemesis to become stronger by surrounding himself with bodyguards. However, you will receive a better reward for defeating them.

Dying: You can intentionally die to Uruks to promote them in the Nemesis system. Dying to a specific Uruk multiple times will level him up faster, in order to prepare a powerful minion to dominate later, or kill to obtain a powerful rune.

Gathering Intel: When a new Nemesis enters the Nemesis system without having any interaction with Talion, they will appear as silhouettes and no information will be known about them. You can dominate other Nemeses to know more about the newly added ones. Repeating this will provides additional information about them.

Initiation: You can force a specific Captain to become their target Warchief's bodyguard by dominating him, then having him perform an Initiation rite to display his worthiness to the Warchief. You can interfere with the Initiation rite to make their dominated Captain succeed and become the Warchief's bodyguard.

Interference: Nemeses will occasionally do missions on their own, and you can interfere with the Uruk's plans. You can prevent or allow the Nemeses to succeed in those missions. Usually if the Nemesis succeeds in their missions, they will grow in power; if they fail they either die or flee.

Mission Creation: After dominating a Nemesis, you can order him to start a mission from a list. You can then focus on helping that Nemesis through his missions to level him up easier, and move him up the ladder among other Nemeses.

Warchief interactions

A Warchief must be drawn out before he can be dominated or killed. Each Warchief requires a different tactic, which can be learned by fighting his Captains. Killing a Warchief results in a gain of 70 power points.

Cry Havoc: Fighting and killing waves of enemies will force a Warchief to come out of hiding and fight you.

Dishonored: Humiliate a Warchief by forcing his minions to abandon him. Wraith powers can be used to scare away the Uruks from their strongholds and abandon their leader.

Killing Spree: Quickly defeating a large number of Uruks will draw out their Warchief.

Riot: Use the "Dominate" ability to force a Warchief to start a riot against a hostile Captain or Warchief. You can use the chaos this causes to kill the target easier.

Strike From Above: Kill yellow marked targets by surprising them from a high vantage point. This will force the Warchief to fight you.

Taunt and Kill Supporters: You can force a Warchief to fight you by taunting him first, then killing a number of his supporters without taking any damage.

Uncaged: You can force a Warchief to fight you if the caged Caragors in his stronghold are freed.

Vantage Point: You can ambush a Warchief by stealthily infiltrating his stronghold then surprising him by attacking from a high vantage point.

Warchief Supporters: Execute the yellow marked supporters of a Warchief in open combat to draw him out. Ground or combat executions are the best way to get the Warchief's attention.

Hunting challenge locations

Go to the indicated area to find the corresponding hunting challenge:

Challenge 1 - Kill Three Ungol Spiders (100 Mirian): Ungol Spiders can be found in cave openings and strongholds at Uldun and Sea Of Nurnen. Once in one of these areas, enter the Wraith World to find them on the ground.

Challenge 2 - Kill Five Flying Creatures (105 Mirian): Flying creatures can be found in any location, in flight or perched on top of tall structures. Enter the Wraith World, and use Focus to pick them off with your bow.

Challenge 3 - Kill Three Caragors (115 Mirian): Caragors are often found in cages in various areas, such as strongholds. Get on an elevated platform, and use arrows to kill them. An alternative, but more difficult, approach is to use a head-on attack while continuously dodging their attacks.

Challenge 4 - Kill Four Mordor Rats (130 Mirian): Mordor Rats can be found at strongholds and encampments. Enter the Wraith World, and they will appear as blue dots moving around.

Challenge 5 - Kill Eight Ghuls (150 Mirian): Travel to Mordor at night to encounter them more frequently. They are encountered on the world map randomly.

Challenge 6 - Kill Three Morgul Bats (180 Mirian): Finding Morgul Bats can be difficult. Enter a cave, and search the walls while in the Wraith World. Use Focus to make your bow shots accurate. They will fly away when they sense your approach or hear your bow.

Challenge 7 - Kill a Graug (220 Mirian): It is normally completed during the "Hunting Partners" mission. Enter Stealth mode, get behind a Graug, and bleed it. Next, stun it by shooting its face. Finally grab the stunned creature to dominate and kill it.

Challenge 8 - Kill a Dire Caragor (270 Mirian): It is normally completed during "The Great White Graug" mission. Alternately, go to the wilderness in Sea Of Nurnen to find a Dire Caragor. Have the "Shadow Mount" ability to mount a Dire Caragor, then kill it.

Challenge 9 - Kill a Ghul Matron (330 Mirian): A Ghul Matron can be very difficult to find. After finding a group of Ghuls, begin killing them until a Ghul Matron appears from the ground. Ghul Matrons are vulnerable to fire and ranged attacks. Avoid their strong counter attacks.

Challenge 10 - Kill a Horned Graug (500 Mirian): It is normally completed during the "Great White Graug" mission. Alternately, Horned Graugs can be found in the Sea Of Nurnen, Harad Basin, Cab-Gwanth Bluff, and Cape Of Nurn. Use the "Shadow Mount" ability to mount a Horned Graug. Then, kill the creature.

Finding Ghul Matrons

Enter Modor at night on a Caragor. Ride until you find a sparsely populated area and see small claw marks appear on the mini-map, which indicates the presence of a pack of Ghuls. Once at that location, begin killing them. Save a few of them, and wait until they retreat. This happens when a flashing claw icon appears over their heads. After they escape, remain in that area until more Ghuls and spitters appear. Kill them as well, but leave a few alive. They will also retreat; continuing waiting in that area. After fighting a few waves of Ghuls this way, you will increase the chances of a Ghul Matron appearing.

Caragors

After obtaining the "Ride Caragors" ability, you can use Caragors as a mount. Stand on a ledge directly above a Caragor, and press RB to jump over it. A quick time event will begin, where you must move the pointer into the circle and press the indicated button. After successfully completing that sequence, Talion will be able to ride that Caragor. Whenever Talion dismounts the Caragor, it will still remain loyal. During a battle, you can use the following commands while mounted:

You can also use captive Caragors to help aide Talion. Shoot the lock off their cages in enemy encampments to have them distract and kill the orcs. This is especially useful when capturing strongholds.

Easy intel

Never kill a branded worm; always dismiss them. If you do this, they will remain branded forever. Once you load a fast travel, enter the Wraith world, and find your green branded worm with the blue triangle over his head. Grab him, get the intel, then dismiss him. Do not kill him. Use fast travel, and repeat this as desired. For example, use the Forge Tower on the second map, all the way to the far right in Harad Basin. As soon as you get there, a worm will be to the right or directly down below you. Each time you have the intel, dismiss him, and fast travel to the same tower. He will re-appear there since he is not killed. This lets you get intel on captai's very quickly. This can be done at any tower that has a worm that you can see from the tower.

Batman reference

Kill a Morgul Bat, which appear near caves in Mordor. Enter the "Nature" section of the Appendices to read the following description: "Those Uruks that get poisoned become horribly diseased and bloated, wearing their deformities as marks of honor. The poison slowly eats at their minds, sending them nightmares of a demonic man-bat who preys on fear."

The Lord Of The Rings references

Several of the mission names (for example, "A Knife In The Dark" and "The Dark Rider") are also titles to chapters in The Lord Of The Rings books.

Celebrimbor will say, "Fly, you fool" during "Shattered Memories", after waking to find the Graug. This is a reference to Gandalf, when he faces the Balrog.

After returning to the Forge Tower, Talion will sometimes ask Celebrimbor what the towers are. He will state that they are "lights in the darkness of Mordor, when all other have gone out", which is a reference to the Vial of Galadriel given to Frodo.

When Talion states that Torvin is a wanderer, Celebrimber will say, "not all who wander are lost", which is a reference to the poem "All That Is Gold Does Not Glitter".

Easy "A Mighty Doom" achievement

Find a Level 20 Warchief that has a vulnerability and fear of fire. Let him kill you once, then kill him. From his Level 20 base, you will get +1 for knowing the weaknesses, +2 for Warchief rank, +1 for exploiting his vulnerability (or +1 for using his fear), and +1 for the revenge kill.

Target a Level 20 Warchief. Become a Nemesis to the Warchief by letting him kill you. Get intel on the Warchief. If the Warchief does not have a combination of easily exploitable fears and weaknesses, issue a death threat. However, there is a chance your rune will be epic by using a death threat, but it will also give another point towards a Level 25 rune. Exploit his weakness first, then fear. The best fears to utilize are Caragors, burning, and betrayal. After the death threat is sent, exploit a single fear or weakness, then kill the Warchief. Note: Alternately, you can start this entire process by locating a Captain who has fears and weaknesses that you can exploit. Repeatedly allow him to kill you to elevate him to a Level 20 Warchief.

Target a Level 20 Warchief, and have at least one of his bodyguards branded. Have him as a Revenge target, then send a death threat. Attack the Warchief. While fighting him, let a branded bodyguard get the kill. You will get a Level 25 rune with no chance of an epic rune because you did not land the killing blow.

Easy "A New Master" achievement

To be able to Brand a Captain while in combat, you must first complete the "Queen Of The Shore" story mission, and buy the "Combat Drain" ability. Completing that mission will unlock the Brand ability, and buying the "Combat Drain" ability allows you to Brand enemies during combat, without having to grab them. Captains spawn randomly all over the map. Drain a Captain's health until the skull symbol turns green, then use the Combat Drain finisher several times to Brand a Captain and get the "A New Master" achievement.

Easy "Black Celebration" achievement

First, successfully complete "The Outcasts" (early) story mission to obtain the Poison ability. Then, go to a Feast. Feasts randomly appear on your map and are marked with a red icon. If no Feast is available, scroll over a Forge Tower on your map, and advance the time to make new events spawn. Do this until a Feast appears. There are multiple drinking bowls at each Feast. The Captain will walk from one bowl to the next. You must poison one of them without being seen and wait for the Captain to drink from it to get the "Black Celebration" achievement. If you are detected, you must quit the game to try the event again.

Easy "Burning Vengeance" achievement

Berserkers are the enemies with two axes. To make them burn, push them into a campfire. You will then have a couple of seconds to land an execution finisher (press Y + B). Any stronghold is a good location to do this at. There is one on the far right side of Udûn. Look for a campfire, and let an enemy set off the alarm. Lots of Uruks will come running to your location. Although the enemies are random, there is almost always a Berserker in the group. Build up a combo streak, then throw him into the fire (press RB). Then, perform the finisher as soon as the Berserker starts burning to get the "Burning Vengeance" achievement. Note: The campfire can only be used once. Thus, if you do not land a finisher quick enough, or if no Berserker spawns, fast travel back to the nearest Forge Tower to try again.

Once you have the "Double Charge" ability and fire arrows, charge your hit counter on any enemy. Then, get in very close range of a Berserker, shoot a fire arrow, and immediately perform a combat execution. If this is not done quickly enough, the Berserker can die from fire or get back up.

With "The Bright Lord" DLC, start a Test Of The Ring. Charge your ring with brandings, then find a fire-pit, and keep summoning or killing Uruks until you get a Berserker. Push the Berserker into the fire-pit, then activate the ring for unlimited executions.

Easy "Height Of Despair" achievement

A great area to use Strike From Above while at least 60 feet above your target is at the eastern most Forge Tower of Udûn (the map where the game starts). There are a couple of enemies roaming the area. Attract one Uruk by pressing RB + Y. Lure the Uruk all the way to the tower, climb up, and perform a Stealth Takedown from above by pressing RB + X to get the "Height Of Despair" achievement. The Uruk may not be in combat mode while doing this. You must stay undetected, or else you will only knock the Uruk down instead of performing a stealth kill.

Easy "Iron Of Death" achievement

To issue a Death Threat, you must first buy the "Death Threat" ability. Then, dominate any enemy desired, and press X to issue a Death Threat. Mark the Uruk you have chosen, hunt him down, and kill him to get the "Iron Of Death" achievement.

Easy "Master Of The Wilds" achievement

There are ten Hunting challenges. The Hunting challenges require you to track down and kill certain creatures. All challenges can be done in Free Roam mode, but you will not be able to access some of them until later in the game (for example, Graugs only spawn after reaching the second map). There are no missable creatures. You can still complete all Hunting challenges after completing the story. Some creatures also do not always spawn in the same location. The Horned Graug is the rarest creature. If creatures do not spawn in a certain area they normally spawn in, simply fast travel back to the nearest Forge Tower, then check the location again. The easiest way to kill Graugs and Caragors is to mount them, and then use the "Dispatch" ability. It will immediately kill the creatures.

Easy "No Power In Numbers" achievement

First, play until the end of the story when you get the ability to command Uruks. You need to brand a Captain and command him to infiltrate a Warchief. However, this does not always unlock a recruitment mission, as it is a random type of mission. Thus, keep commanding Captains until a recruitment mission appears on your map. Once you start a recruitment mission, defend your captain and kill other Uruks. After successfully completing the mission, kill your Captain and all his recruits to get the "No Power In Numbers" achievement.

You can avoid branding a Captain beforehand by entering any easy target's recruitment mission. Brand him before the first set of Uruks die. You can be seen by the enemy as long as you kill all the targets indicated by the yellow dot markers afterwards. After you brand the Captain, all the Uruks following him will be under his control, as if you had branded them yourself. Ensure that the Captain does not die from other groups of Uruks to allow success of the recruitment mission. When the mission ends, use the ability to kill all branded units on sight to get the "No Power In Numbers" achievement.

Easy "Power Vacuum" achievement

After helping Ratbag become a bodyguard, you will be given a quest to kill all current Warchiefs. Start by killing the four Warchiefs that are not associated with Ratbag, then complete his quest to kill the twin.

Play Trials Of War mode to more easily kill Warchiefs before Uruks take their place.

Easy "Stinking Rebels" achievement

First, obtain the ability to command enemies. You will earn this skill automatically towards the end of the story. Then, command five different Captains to betray/infiltrate the same Warchief. You must dominate the Captains in combat, then press Y to command them. Successfully complete all the infiltration missions of your Captains (blue symbols on the map). Next, pause the game, go to Sauron's Army, and select your target Warchief. Five of the Captains under your control must be connected to him as bodyguards. Finally, fight the Warchief, and press Up to activate your Captains.

Easy "The White Rider" achievement

A great location to liberate 30 slaves in 180 seconds while riding a Caragor is on the left side of the second map ("Sea Of Núrnen", where the second half of the story takes place). If you have the "Shadow Mount" ability, you can easily mount any Caragor from a distance. Fast travel to the Forge Tower in the southwest during daytime. This is very important because the slave locations are different at night. You can advance the time by scrolling over a Forge Tower on your map. The slaves are accompanied by one or two Uruks. Take them out to liberate the slaves.

Achievements

Accomplish the indicated achievement to get the corresponding number of Gamerscore points:

Paths of the Dead (20 points): Collect 25% of the Artifacts.

Crowned with Living Light (10 points): Collect 50% of the Ithildin.

Stinking Rebels (20 points): Brand 5 Bodyguards of a Warchief, turning them against him in combat.

The Maker's Bow (30 points): Complete all Azkâr Legend Missions.

Legend of the Maker (10 points): Complete a Bow Mission and begin growing the legend of Azkâr.

Strike True (20 points): Unlock 2 Bow Rune slots.

The Last Shadow (30 points): Complete all Acharn Legend Missions.

Legend of Shadow (10 points): Complete a Dagger Mission and begin growing the legend of Acharn.